Rotary motion transmitting device



June 11, 1968 A. FISCHER 3,337,504

ROTARY MOTION TRANSMITTING DEVICE Filed Aug. 16, 1966 i 6 3 12 Flg.

INVENTOR.

ARTUR mscmzn BY United States Patent 3,387,504 ROTARY MGTIONTRANSMHTTENG DEVICE Artur Fischer, 133 Gruenmettstetterstrasse, 7294Turniingen, Germany Filed Aug. 16, 1966, Ser. No. 572,735 Claimspriority, application Germany, Sept. 6, 1965, F 47,097 8 Claims. (Cl.74-431) ABSTRACT OF THE DESCLOSURE A rotary member has an axis ofrotation and is provided on its circumferential face with a firstannulus of teeth, and on one of its axial end faces with a secondannulus of teeth.

The present invention relates to a rotary motion-transmitting device,and more specifically to a device of this type which has particularutility in conjunction with toy assembly kits.

It need not be pointed out that the use of rotary motiontransmittingdevices, which hereafter for the sake of convenience will be called gearwheels, in toy assembly kits is well known. However, heretofore the useof such gear wheels has always necessitated a certain complexity in theprovisions which had to be made for mounting the gear wheel and theauxiliary devices to which the gear wheel was to transmit motion or fromwhich it was to receive motion. Furthermore, such gear wheels havelacked versatility in that the simultaneous transmission of motion tomore than one auxiliary element required complicated constructions oftenbeyond the skill of children for whom the toy assembly kit was intended.

It is therefore a general object of the present invention to overcomethe above-mentioned disadvantages of the prior art.

A more specific object of the invention is to provide a gear wheel whichis highly versatile in the construction of motion-transmittingarrangements.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a gear wheel such asoutlined above which is simple and inexpensive to construct and whoseuse in conjunction with other elements of a toy kit does not require theprovision of tools.

An additional object of the invention is to provide such a gear wheelwhose assembly to devices to which it is to transmit motion, or fromwhich it is to receive motion, requires little manipulative skill.

In accordance with one feature of my invention I provide a rotarymotion-transmitting device, such as a gear wheel, which comprises arotary member having an axis of rotation and which includes a pluralityof motiontransmitting portions spaced from this axis of rotation. Such agear wheel has, in accordance with the invention, not only an annulus ofteeth provided on its peripheral surface and constituting a spur gear,but also another annulus of teeth provided on one of its axial end facesand constituting a face gear. Furthermore, my novel gear wheel isprovided with other motion-transmitting means, such as one or more pinsprovided on that axial end face opposite the one which carries thesecond annulus of teeth, and openings extending from one to the other ofthese axial end faces and arranged to accommodate shafts which may serveas pivot axes. Both the openings and the pin or pins extend in axialparallelism with the axis of rotation of the gear wheel but are arrangedoff-center relative thereto.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic for theinvention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. Theinvention itself, however, both as 3,387,504 Patented June 11, 1968 toits construction and its method of operation, together with additionalobjects and advantages thereof, will be best understood from thefollowing description of specific embodiments when read in connectionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an axial end view of a gear wheel in accordance with thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned elevation of a right-angle drive,utilizing a gear wheel of the type shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a top view, partly sectioned, of the gear wheel shown in FIG.1, showing the same in an arrangement utilizing a sheave and anotherauxiliary member.

Discussing now the drawing in detail, and firstly FIG. 1 thereof, itwill be seen that the gear wheel shown there is generally indicated withreference numeral 2 and that it is provided with a peripheral annulus ofteeth 1 constituting a spur gear. It should be noted that, although theteeth 1 are illustrated only on part of the periphery of the gear wheel2, this showing was selected only to make the drawing simple and readilyunderstandable and that the teeth 1 actually extend over the entireperiphery of the gear wheel 2. A

A hub 4 (see FIG. 2) is removably connectable to the gear wheel 2 and isprovided with one or more projections 3 which, when the hub 4 isinserted into the center opening 2' of the gear wheel 2, will engagewith and be received in the complementary recesses 2" provided in thegear wheel 2, so that the hub 4- is thus non-rotatably locked to thegear wheel 2 to transmit power thereto and to receive power therefrom. a

In further accordance with the invention, the gear wheel 2 is providedon at least one of its axial end faces with a second complete annulus ofteeth, here indicated with reference numeral 6, only a portion of whichis shown. The teeth 6 constitute a face gear and serve to permit use ofthe gear wheel 2. in conjunction with the peripheral teeth 1 of a secondgear wheel 5 (see FIG. 2) so that the two gear wheels 2 and 5 togetherconstitute an angle drive, particularly a right-angle drive. It is to benoted that the teeth 6 are advantageously so recessed in the axial endface of the gear wheel 2 that their outermost tips are located in theplane of this end face and do not project outwardly beyond the end face.

The reason for this latter requirement will become obvious from aconsideration of FIG. 3. It is shown therein that a gear wheel 2 similarto the one shown in FIG. 1 can be provided with the hub 4 which isnon-rotatably locked to the gear wheel 2. Additionally, however, asheave 9 is secured to one axial end of the gear wheel 2 forsimultaneous rotation with the latter in order to transmit power to, orto receive power from, the gear Wheel 2. To permit the connection ofthis sheave and to further increase the versatility of the gear wheel,the latter is provided on that one of the axial end faces which isopposite the one provided with the annulus of teeth 6, with pins orprojections 7 which, as is clearly evident from FIG. 3, can project intocorresponding recesses S provided in the sheave 9 so that the latter isthereby nonrotatably coupled with the gear wheel 2. Additionally, thegear wheel 2 can also advantageously be provided with one or more bores10 (see FIG. 1) which extend from one to the other of the axial endfaces of the gear Wheel and are adapted to receive pins ll. or similarinstrumentalities which can serve as axles or for other purposes. In theembodiment shown in FIG. 3 it will be seen that the pin 11 is insertedthrough a opening 10 in the gear wheel 2 and extends with one end intoone of the recesses 8 provided in the sheave 9, thus serving to lock thesame still more reliably to the gear wheel 2, whereas the other end ofthe pin ll extends into a complementary recess provided in a buildingblock 12 or a similar element so that the latter will turn about shaft11 and will perform a reciprocatory movement during rotation of the gearwheel 2 and the pulley locked thereto. It is this type of arrangementwhich makes it necessary that the tips of the teeth 6 do not projectbeyond the plane of the end face in which they are provided, it beingobvious that the building block or similar element 12 must closely abutthe axial end face of the gear wheel 2 to be properly guided thereby,and that the teeth 6 obviously must not be allowed to interfere with themovement of element 12.

It should be noted that the type of hub illustrated is well known in theart and need not be further described, beyond stating that it usuallyconsists of two parts provided with a screw connection so that they arerotatable relative to one another, these parts being so constructed andarranged that a change in their relative positions will cause them toengage the surrounding surfaces of a member to which they are to besecured, with greater or lesser force.

It will also be obvious that various different materials can be used forconstructing the rotary motion-transmitting device in accordance withthe present invention, and that metals as well as various differenttypes of plastic materials are well suited for this purpose.

It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or twoor more together, may also find a useful application in other types ofrotary motion-transmitting devices differing from the types describedabove.

While the invention has been illustrated and described as embodied in arotary motion-transmitting device, it is not intended to be limited tothe details shown, since various modifications and structural changesmay be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the presentinvention.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist ofthe present invention that others can by applying current knowledgereadily adapt it for various applications without omitting featuresthat, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essentialcharacteristics of the generic or specific aspects of this inventionand, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to becomprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of thefollowing claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A rotary motion-transmitting device comprising a rotary member havingan axis of rotation and including a plurality of motion-transmittingportions spaced from said axis, one of said motion-transmitting portionsbeing a first annulus of teeth provided on a peripheral face of saidmember and another of said motion-transmitting portions being a secondannulus of teeth provided on an axial end face of said member andconstituting a face gear.

2. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein one of saidmotion-transmitting portions includes a surface surrounding a holeprovided in said member parallel with said axis of rotation thereof.

3. A device as defined in claim 1, wherein said rotary member is ofcircular outline and provided with an axially extending central opening;and further comprising a hub detachably received in said opening andco-operating coupling means provided on said member and said hub forcoupling the latter non-rotatably to the former.

4. A device as defined in claim 3, wherein said cooperating couplingmeans comprises at least one radially extending recess provided in thesurface surrounding said opening, and a complementary projectionprovided on said hub and adapted to be received in said recess.

5. A device as defined in claim 3, wherein said cooperating couplingmeans comprises at least two diametrically opposite radially extendingrecesses provided in the surface surrounding said opening, andcomplementary projections provided on said hub and adapted to bereceived in the respective recesses.

6. A rotary motion-transmitting device comprising a rotary member havingan axis of rotation and an axial endface, said rotary member beingprovided with a plurality of motion-transmitting portions spaced fromsaid axis including a plurality of teeth arranged in said axial endfaceand constituting a face gear, said teeth comprising tips which are flushwith the general plane of said axial endface.

7. A rotary motion-transmitting device including :a rotary member havingan axis of rotation and an axial endface, said rotary member comprisinga plurality of motion-transmitting portions spaced from said axis :andincluding at least one integral projections extending from said axialendface.

8. A device as defined in claim 7; and further comprising a sheaveadapted to be arranged coaxially with said member and having aneccentrically located opening adapted in such position to register withand receive said projection, so that said sheave is thereby coupled withsaid member for rotation therewith.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,795,197 3/1931 Compton 74-4323,118,571 1/1964 Reynolds 74-4l5 X 3,168,836 2/1965 Militana 74-447 XFRED C. MATTERN, JR., Primary Examiner. LEONARD H. GERIN, Examiner.

